Constantly giving in to a partner's demands could lead to depression, study finds

A new study has found that agreeing to everything one's partner says for an easy life could actually cause them to sink into depression.

According to telegraph.co.uk, researchers from the University of Auckland in New Zealand have found that although always being right could lead to happiness, having to give in to a partner all the time could lead to depression.

The researchers had originally set out to test whether the secret to a happy marriage was for one partner to always agree with the other. A male participant was asked to give into his partner's every demand, even if he believed she was in the wrong.

They found that just after 12 days, the man had sunk into deep depression and had to ask for the experiment to be stopped. Before the beginning of the trial, the man rated his happiness as seven out of ten, by day 12 this had dropped to just three out of ten. In comparison, the woman's happiness rose slightly, from eight out of ten to 8.5 out of ten, reports huffingtonpost.co.uk.

The researchers commented: "It seems that being right is a cause of happiness and agreeing with what one disagrees with is a cause of unhappiness. The availability of unbridled power adversely affects the quality of life of those on the receiving end. Many people in the world live as couples and we believe that it could be harmful for one partner to always have to agree with the other."

Further research will be done to see if women react the same way to a male partner always being right.